ShayJack and Pipe--Our Journey to Full-Time Camping

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Just a quick introduction before we begin our story...so you will know who you are getting to know! We appreciate your time and giving our blog a shot and we hope you enjoy going along with us. We don't exactly know how we are going to get there, but we know for sure that we are going.

Jack is a retired...well, I don't know exactly what to say he is retired from. He is a (no pun intended) Jack-of-all-Trades. He has been a musician, farrier, truck driver, truck driver educator, businessman...and currently runs a recording studio. As his wife, I would say he is best-known for his banjo. Look it up if you don't believe me...Jack Hicks. Oh yes, that's him with Bill Monroe and Conway Twitty, just to name a few. He hates it when I go on about it, but who cares? I am proud of him and he isn't doing the typing right now.

I am Shayla Hicks, and I am in my twentieth year of being a teacher in public education. Adding up the time, and coming from Kentucky, I have seven years to go until I can retire and begin our new life on the road. I hate being the hold-back sometimes--we want this to happen sooner--but retirement and medical insurance are pretty good things to hold on to right now.

Piper Lee Hicks is our dog, a so-ugly-it's-cute pound dog. She thinks she is my sister wife. She loves Jack almost as much as I do, and we make quite a trio. She is opinionated, spoiled, and the best dog that has ever lived. Of course, I will add here that my mom--known far and wide for her wisdom--says, "Every crow thinks theirs is the blackest." Well, brothers and sisters of the road, she IS the blackest as far as we are concerned :) She is our little sweetie, and we just love her to death.

So...after much thought (about 48 hours) we decided to buy a used Casita, remodel it, and spend all the time we can that work will allow beginning our dream of eventually going full-time. Then, about five weeks later, we put our house on the market after finding a much smaller house but easier to pay off and put a deposit on the smaller house. This decision took less than 24 hours. We figure like this: Go big or go home. We have seven school years to go...we need to get ready...and downsizing sooner rather than later makes sense.

We will be posting some before and after pictures of our Casita soon, and sharing our thoughts and milestones toward making this dream come true.